Merry Christmas, Draco
by draco-severus-mmm
Summary: A chance encounter between Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy in a Muggle playground at Christmas time causes their parents to reassess their past. Written for the 2012 Christmas holiday only I forgot to upload. Here it is now.


**Hello all! This is two for the price of one. I forgot to upload this to last year at Christmas so sadly, FFers missed out whereas LJers got to read it. So, here is last year's Christmas fic and shortly I will update this year's Christmas fic. Hope you enjoy! :-)**

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**Merry Christmas, Draco**

Little Rose Weasley skipped merrily to the playground located at the end of the street. Her mother Hermione had reluctantly agreed to let her have a few minutes so that she did not have to drag her often loud and disagreeable child around the supermarket. It was Christmas Eve and Hermione's patience was running out at a fast rate. Surely, a few minutes in the playground would not hurt.

Rose ran headlong towards the swings. They were her favourite. It mattered little that this was a Muggle playground; to Rose, the chance to play as opposed to doing chores or following her frazzled mother around a boring supermarket was a rare chance at this time of the year. Besides which, she often enjoyed taking part in Muggle activities, things that she didn't get a lot of chance to do unless it was with her grandparents.

She had only just been on the swings for a moment when a very fair haired boy walked up with a slight scowl on his face. Rose put her feet on the ground to slow herself down and eventually stop.

"Hello," Rose said.

"Hello," said the boy.

"What's your name?"

"My name's Scorpius," the boy responded. "What's yours?"

"Rose," Rose replied. "I haven't seen you around here before."

The boy's scowl deepened. "That's because I don't come this way often. My parents say that they would prefer I don't come to this playground, but they haven't told me why. But they aren't here right now and it looks like fun."

Rose's face lit up. A chance to show someone just how fun it could be! "It is fun!" she exclaimed. "There is so much to do in here. My mummy doesn't ever leave me here long but I always have time to play on the swings!"

Scorpius looked a bit wary. "You mean, you sit on it and let the swing take you backwards and forwards?"

Rose nodded. "It's good fun. These swings go really high! I'll show you."

She stepped backwards and far as she could go to propel herself forwards. Scorpius watched in slight awe as Rose swung herself higher and higher into the air. She was almost as high as the frame itself and that was high!

Slowly, she dropped back down to the earth, putting her feet out each time to slow herself down more. Eventually, she stopped.

"Go on," she urged. "Give it a try."

Scorpius seemed slightly wary but puffed his chest out and stepped up to the second swing. He sat down and mimicked Rose in her movements. He started going backwards and forwards but seemed unsure how to get himself to go higher.

"Use the chains," Rose instructed. "You pull back on them and swing your legs up and you go higher."

"Er, thanks," Scorpius responded with slight annoyance. He seemed like he didn't really want to be told how to do something but nonetheless, he did as she said. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "It works!"

Rose beamed. "I know! You can go higher, you know. But be careful to hold on tight; you don't want to fall."

"I'll be okay," Scorpius said quickly, but still he held on tightly.

The two children swung higher and higher, laughing and squealing the whole time. By the time they sailed back down to earth, they had become fast friends.

"Let's play on the roundabout!" Rose exclaimed.

"The what?" Scorpius wondered.

"The roundabout, silly!" Rose admonished as she smiled at him. "Over here!"

She ran over to the roundabout and Scorpius followed. "Hold on to a handle and run around with me," she instructed.

Scorpius nodded. "Okay."

They both grabbed hold of a bar and started running around and around, pushing the roundabout as they went. Faster and faster it went then all of a sudden, Rose jumped on.

"Whhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she squealed. "Climb on, Scorpius!"

Scorpius looked at Rose as if she were mad but not wanting to be outdone by a girl (who was clearly quite fearless of anything like this), jumped on board as well. Holding tightly onto the bar, Scorpius felt like he was going to continuously fall off and yet, he was enjoying himself immensely.

"Blimey!" he exclaimed. "I thought I was going to fall off!"

Rose grinned. "I know!" she said back. "I thought so the first time I hopped on, too!"

Scorpius smiled. He'd never had this much fun with another before, he was really starting to like this firey red-haired girl.

Little did they realise that two rather bigger people turned up at the edge of the playground. These two people were not standing close by but rather standing quite a few metres away from each other. They did not know that the other was there until one chance glance changed this.

Draco Malfoy looked straight at Hermione Weasley and back to the scene in front of them. Hermione stared back, taking in the look on Draco's face. She had not seen him for a number of years and she was surprised by how different he looked. He still carried the high cheekbones and the tailored look of the Malfoys, yet he no longer wore the smirk that she so despised. He looked wary, perhaps cautious, but at the same time, content. The scene in front of him did not appear to have caused him distress at least.

He looked back at her with a slight smile on his face. It was perhaps one of disbelief, but not in a bad way. Probably the same as how she felt. Nevertheless, she was taken aback; it made him appear so young, so charming. His once-cold grey eyes were dancing. It was clear how he felt about his son.

Hermione looked back to the scene in front of them. The children were still not aware of their parents. It was so lovely watching these two little children playing so easily with one another when they were the product of such two very different backgrounds. It seemed so silly that prejudices got in the way of what could possibly have been a very easy friendship between herself and Draco, judging by their mutual interests and intelligence. What a different world it was now.

She turned back to see Draco walking towards her, still wearing the slight smile on his face. Hermione could not help but return it.

"Do you think we ought to disturb the peace?" he said by way of greeting.

Hermione smiled. "Perhaps we should let them go a little longer," she replied. "Poor Rose has had little chance of playing since returning home; she seems to be really enjoying herself."

Draco nodded. "Admittedly, there aren't many that are Scorpius' age nearby. Not to mention, this time of year, the Christmas parties, the drama…" he tailed off as he rolled his eyes.

Hermione laughed. How strange it was that she was sharing a moment with Draco Malfoy about Christmas. It seemed that whilst there was a very good reason to call it the 'silly season', it was also a time to forgive. It was clear that Draco was willing to put their past behind them and so she would do the same.

Draco smiled back, properly this time. Upon hearing her mother's laugh, Rose looked up. "Mummy!" she exclaimed. "Scorpius! Come and meet my mummy!"

"Hey!" he wondered out loud. "She's talking to my father! Do you suppose they know one another?"

"Who knows?" Rose responded. "Maybe. Come on!"

They both ran up to their parents, just as the two adults finished their conversation.

"Mummy, this is Scorpius," Rose pointed to Scorpius. "Scorpius, this is my mummy."

Hermione knelt down to be more at a level to the two children. "Hello, Scorpius," she put out her hand. "My name is Hermione."

Scorpius took her hand and instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his mouth in a kiss, much to her surprise. "Hello, Hermione," he said formally. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hermione looked straight at Draco, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders. She stood back up just as Scorpius was introducing Rose to Draco. Draco himself knelt down to Rose's level and replicated Scorpius' actions. Manners were certainly something that Draco took seriously and it was lovely to see him instil the same values in his son.

Draco stood back up and looked at Hermione. "Your daughter is lovely," he said quietly. "She's a dead ringer for Weasley, but she has your eyes."

Hermione laughed. "Your boy looks like you in every way. He's beautiful."

Draco smiled. "Granger, are you saying what I think you are?"

Hermione smiled. "Not a chance, Malfoy. And it's Weasley, remember?"

Draco's grin widened. "You'll always be 'Granger' in my eyes."

Hermione made to respond but didn't get a chance to as Draco leaned in close and gave her a kiss on the cheek, much to the two little children's disgust ("Eww! Your dad kissed my mum!" / "Eww! Father! That's horrid!") and Hermione's complete surprise.

"It seems silly that our past was filled with such hate. I don't wish to continue it. Merry Christmas, Hermione."

Hermione looked at Draco. There was nothing mocking in his face, only respect.

She took his hand and clasped it in hers. "Thank you," she said heartily. "I completely agree. Merry Christmas, Draco," she said with meaning. "Best wishes for the New Year." She dropped his hand reluctantly but before she let it go completely, he picked it up and dropped his head to kiss the back of it softly. The fact that he dropped his eyes as he did so told her so much more than his words. Had there still been any animosity between the two, he would have maintained eye contact.

Draco lifted his head and looked at her intently. "Same to you," he muttered quietly.

The two small families went their separate ways, Hermione looking back at one point to see Draco turn around and smile at her, and Scorpius looking back to see Rose sticking her tongue out at him, which he returned with a grin.


End file.
